Prediction: Chelsea vs Aston Villa

Verdict: Double chance – draw or Aston Villa

Best odds: 43/50

Bookmaker: ZetBet

Seeking to take advantage of not playing in Europe this season, Chelsea will try to use freshness to claim all three points when they face Aston Villa on Sunday at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

The visitors will, meanwhile, be hoping to bounce back from an unexpected defeat at the hands of Legia in Warsaw in their opening match of the Europa Conference League campaign.

Chelsea

Having spent an incredible amount of money to sign new players over the last three transfer windows, Chelsea are yet to click properly as a team and deliver expected results on a regular basis. There’s obviously a very long way to go in the season, but the early signs are not good for Mauricio Pochettino and his men.

After a draw at home against Liverpool and a defeat away to West Ham, it looked as if things were getting better when the Blues stringed a pair of victories together, beating Luton Town at home by 3-0 and Wimbledone in the Carabao Cup by 2-1. However, then they suffered consecutive disappointments, losing 0-1 at home to Nottingham Forest and playing a goalless draw away to Bournemouth.

Chelsea might be described as unlucky in some of those games, believing they deserved more, but dominating opponents and creating chances isn’t enough in itself – those chances need to be taken. Despite the vast investments in the team, there is still an overwhelming feeling that they lack a prolific striker, a proper No. 9, in their ranks. Former Villarreal hitman Nicolas Jackson has managed to score only once in six matches in all competitions so far.

With five goals and five points from as many Premier League games, Pochettino’s men sit 14th in the table at the moment, and the former Tottenham Hotspur and Paris Saint-Germain boss needs to work up a solution to their problems quickly.

Team News

Defender Wesley Fofana is out for the season due to an ACL tear. Forward Christopher Nkunku also has a serious knee problem, though he is expected back before the year is out.

Even without counting the two long-term absentees, Chelsea’s treatment room is full to the brim. Defenders Reece James, Trevoh Chalobah and Benoit Badiashile (all thigh), midfielders Romeo Lavia (ankle) and Carney Chukwuemeka (knee), as well as goalkeeper Marcus Bettinelli (knee), are all out of action at the moment.

There could, however, be good news on midfielder Moises Caicedo (knee), winger Chukwunonso Madueke (muscle), striker Armando Broja (knee) and defender Marc Cucurella (illness). All four players are classed as doubts at this point.

Aston Villa

Aston Villa have done notably better this term. Their nine points from five games have them in seventh place, and it looks like they’ll be right in the race for European places again. They will also be feeling that this might be a good moment to go to Chelsea and try to take advantage of the Blues’ period of crisis.

In the Premier League, Villa have so far lost only away to Newcastle and Liverpool, though convincingly so. It was 5-1 for the Magpies at St. James’ Park in on the opening day of the season, and later Liverpool put three unanswered goals past them at Anfield. In the meantime, Unai Emery’s team beat Everton at home by 4-0, Burnely away by 1-3, and Crystal Palace at home by 3-1, before the disappointment suffered in Warsaw this week.

In any earlier seasons, a trend of losing big to big clubs would’ve had Villa worried ahead of the Stamford Bridge trip, but given what we’ve seen from Chelsea this term, it’s questionable if the Blues deserve to be put in that bracket right now. Further more, the visitors will be buoyed by the memory of their Premier League triumph at this ground in April this year, when Ollie Watkins and John McGinn silenced the home crowd.

Team News

Unfortunately, the season is over already for winger Emiliano Buendia and defender Tyrone Mings; both have suffered ACL tears and undergone surgery. Mings picked up his injury in the opening match at Newcastle, and Buendia didn’t even play. Defender Diego Carlos (hamstring) should be back in action soon, but not on Sunday.

Former Chelsea forward Bertrand Traore might be ready to play, however, having overcome an injury problem of his own.

Emery isn’t expected to make too many changes to the team which started in Warsaw, though Watkins is almost certain to be picked ahead of Jhon Duran to lead the attacking line. Moussa Diaby could also get a start somewhere between the midfield and Watkins, possibly in the place of Leon Bailey who played the full 90 minutes against Legia.

Conclusion

Villa usually thrive when they play an attacking game, and they’ve scored 11 goals (conceded 10 too) in the five matches played so far. On the other hand, Chelsea have scored just five and conceded as many. It will be interesting to see which team succeeds in imposing their own game on Sunday.

Though the bookmakers expectedly favour a Chelsea win with shorter odds, Villa getting something from this game doesn’t seem unrealistic.

Verdict: Double chance – draw or Aston Villa

Best odds: 43/50

Bookmaker: ZetBet